Yes, it is a complete oxy moron that a person who is in the process of getting approved for a sleeve is baking cake. But that is what I am doing. A good friend and co-worker is getting married soon and we are throwing her a shower at work. I was asked ( rather nominated) to make the cake for it. I am pretty well known for my baking skills. (Yep- another stereotype. A fat baker!) I heard through the grapevine she is not having an actual wedding cake at her wedding, so I decided to go all out and make her one. I am also completely insane and have a masochistic side! LOL What the HECK was I thinking? And this ain't gonna be your average thrown together, out of a box cake either. Nope. It will be three tiers, all double layer. The bottom will be devil's food with butterscotch caramel filling, the second layer is marble with chocolate ganache and the top will be white with raspberry filling. And if I wasn't already a glutton for punishment I am making my own homemade buttercream icing for it and decorating it with fall leaves I am making by hand out of gum paste! Really? REALLY?? And here is the kicker....I have NO formal training whatsoever. I just got a burr up my butt that I could do this. I jumped on the internet for ideas and it snowballed. This is also a loooong process. Last night I spent 5 1/2 hours baking the bottom layer of cake (2-14" cakes) and making the gum paste. Then I rolled it, cut out the leaves and started to paint them. Had to stop as they were still too tacky. So today at lunch I went home and painted a few. Tonight I am going to make the other two layers of cake ( 2- 12" and 2 -8") paint the leaves, and crumb coat the first layer. ( after I make a batch of icing) This is all after working an 8 hour day, and I also have to entertain a 4 year old! Tomorrow I will finish icing and decorate the whole thing for it to be ready for Friday. If I did this for a living it would be ok. It is kind of fun to be creative and make something. But to work a full time job, take care of a preschooler AND do this on the side.....well it isn't as much fun as I had thought. Yet here is the weird part. With all the cake and sugar and smells around me last night I had to make myself stop and eat something! I get so focused on getting done I don't want to eat. And once I stopped for the night I was so tired I didn't care about food. So maybe baking IS the key to weight loss...Hmmm